Intravenous Administration Of Liposome Encapsulated Dfo Efficiently Removes Iron From The Liver And Spleen Of Iron Overloaded Mice

Introduction: Long-term red blood cell transfusions effectively sustains patients who have β-thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, and myelodysplastic syndromes but they also lead to excess iron accumulation in the body. Iron overload is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in transfusion dependent patients. Chelation therapy reverses iron accumulation but marketed chelators have drawbacks such as: long infusions of deferoxamine (DFO, Novartis), large oral tablets with adverse effects (Exjade, Novartis), or twice daily oral dosing (Ferriprox, ApoPharma). These attributes contribute to poor compliance and poor outcomes in iron overload patients. To overcome long infusions and high doses of current therapies we have devised a stable nanoliposome encapsulated DFO (LDFO) for the treatment of iron overload.